The history of the NFL is peppered with tales of hyperactive head coaches sleeping overnight in their offices, drawing up crazy plays, and building championship clubs from the ashes of decrepit teams. NFL Head Coach from EA Sports allows you to experience this rather unique lifestyle; whether or not the activities that make up the job are more interesting than, say, your current employment situation is another question. Head Coach is a freakishly in-depth sports simulator. The emphasis is on ...
» Read More

22 Jun 2006

The Hustle Detroit Streets

Xbox Review

Mix pool with high-stakes gambling and you'll get - surprisingly - an almost entirely unenjoyable game. The Hustle offers 10 variations on the classic game of billiards, though they must be unlocked over the course of a story mode that's about as engaging as an informercial, set to the strains of generic bar rock. From there, 170 vaguely distinguishable opponents await while bystanders offer side bets. No matter which locale you're mining for respect, you'll wind up wanting to nuke the place ...
» Read More

21 Jun 2006

MLB SlugFest 2006

Xbox Review

SlugFest 2006 prides itself as an arcadey baseball game, but we have to ask: where's the lack of realism? This game features big-skulled players who are obscenely bulky that can effortlessly drill 500-foot homeruns over the cheap seats. The MLB's steroids fiasco is all over but the asterisks, but SlugFest is a knowing nod to the joys of baseball's HGH (Human Growth Hormone) ...
» Read More

16 Jun 2006

And 1 Streetball

Xbox Review

AND 1 Streetball sets itself apart from other basketball games by placing equal importance on outscoring your opponent and looking damn cool doing it. Just like the real-life, trick-play AND 1 traveling team, the game overflows with impressive athletic moves, grandiose showboating and tongue-in-cheek entertainment value. As a foul-less, unruly streetballer, AND 1 emphasizes action and delivers with an incredibly deep “I Ball” control scheme that allows you to juke, jive and ...
» Read More

16 Jun 2006

Urban Chaos Riot Response

Xbox Review

The city is on fire, and its districts lie in ruins. Firefighters, police and paramedics struggle to pull average citizens to safety, only to be savagely cut down or burned alive by the hordes of maniacs who now rule the streets. Into this mess strides Nick Mason, a special-forces riot policeman with big guns and carte blanche to bring the situation under control by any means necessary - and he's going to kick him a little ass. Yeah, we know. You've heard it a bajillion times before, in ...
» Read More

14 Jun 2006

Cars

Xbox Review

Imagine a game like Need for Speed Underground 2, in which you can drive around in a freely explorable city, racing other drivers or just messing around as you see fit. Now, imagine it with talking cars, a tiny desert town and nearly every hint of crime or violence removed, and you'll have a good idea of what to expect from Cars. While it ties in with the Pixar movie, Cars actually picks up where the film left off, with cherry-red racetrack star Lightning McQueen settling into the town of ...
» Read More

14 Jun 2006

Major League Baseball 2K6

Xbox Review

Holding a semi-exclusive license for Major League Baseball and boasting a number of new innovations, youd expect 2K Sports' MLB 2K6 to be a grand slam, but an unpolished fielding engine and a bland presentation limit this years entry to an infield double. The strength of the game is its simulation engine - the depth of management options is simply staggering. You are responsible for everything from roster selection to keeping your players happy. On the field, you can even argue a call; just ...
» Read More

6 Jun 2006

2006 FIFA World Cup Germany

Xbox Review

The two main "simulation" franchises in the soccer video game genre - FIFA and Winning Eleven - have been engaged in a death struggle for years now. 2006 FIFA World Cup adds a little more of Winning Eleven-style flair to its familiar gameplay formula this time around, but not much. FIFA remains more pick-up-and-play for the mainstream sports gamer, but offers some depth and subtleties that will enable more experienced players to do their best Beckham impersonation. Experienced FIFA gamers will ...
» Read More

31 May 2006

Rogue Trooper

Xbox Review

Carving out a place among the glut of third-person shooting games can be a tough task, as the well-intentioned but entirely average Rogue Trooper proves. A combination of straight-forward shooting, stale sci-fi nonsense, and some clever use of gadgets and gear, Rogue Trooper manages to provide a few hours of gaming goodness despite some mediocre ...
» Read More

30 May 2006

Hitman: Blood Money

Xbox Review

Creeping quietly down the hall, the harsh fluorescent lighting gleams off your bald head. Your target walks a few paces ahead, unknowingly striding into certain doom. As you round the corner, you carefully unwind the fiber wire and prepare to throttle your quarry to death. You raise the deadly garrote, but before you can strike, you accidentally bump the back of your target's knee with your own, alerting him to your presence. He turns around and lets out a scream that alerts everyone within a ...
» Read More